Baator, also known as The Nine Hells in Infernal or simply Hell or Hells, is the home of the devils.

Baator is stylised as a plane of sinister evil and cruelty. The different types of devils that dwell here obey a strict hierarchical social structure. Each continually plots to advance their position through treachery and deception. Unlike the demons of the Abyss, the devils are highly organized, with a logical and calculating nature.

The plane itself is composed of nine different layers, each of which models a differing but no less inhospitable and dreadful environment, including barren plains of ash and rock to frozen wastes of endless ice.

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The principal inhabitants of Baator are the devils, fiendish creatures of pure lawful evil; the most populous variety of devils are the baatezu, a race which effectively rules the plane. The devils are in a constant conflict known as the Blood War with the Chaotic Evil demons. The ultimate rulers of Baator are the Archdevils, also called Lords of the Nine Hells; each one rules absolutely over one of the layers. The current political climate of Baator was determined by a civil war known as the Reckoning of Hell.

Baator's petitioners are those that have been stolen or lured from the Fugue Plane by the devils sent there to do just that. Most start as lemures, though some strong-willed souls begin their devilish afterlives as spinagons, the next step up from a lemure. Petitioners can 'evolve' to inhabit more powerful bodies, if they survive and prosper long enough to do so.

Several kinds of petitioners are found in the Nine Hells. Evil, proud, ambitious souls unconcerned with others and bereft of empathy find their way there. Most of those souls take the form of ghost-white shades, shells of their mortal forms, which devils cruelly mold and shape into twisted, agonized forms of horror. Only when the soul is so twisted and molded that it is truly, finally slain does its essence merge with that of the Nine Hells itself. Often, devils or deities of a particular hellish realm molds petitioners in their realm to conform to a specific, macabre aesthetic. These average hellish petitioners, sometimes called soul shells, have the following special petitioner qualities:

Additional Immunities: None.

Resistances: Cold 20, fire 20.

Other Special Qualities: Powerful devils have an innate power to warp and mold soul shells, usually into shapes that are inherently painful and degrading.

Particularly vile petitioners become lemures. Only the most evil of mortals can achieve status as lemures, and they usually end up here regardless of the deity they worshiped in life. Lemures, of course, are despised by all other devils, and they serve the most base duties in any devilish group they are part of. In any initial Blood War confrontation, the lemures are the shock troops that draw the enemy's fire. Lemures appear as revolting blobs of molten flesh, with vaguely humanoid torsos and heads. Hints of the petitioner's former mortal features are visible when they are not too twisted by anguish. Lemures are mindless, though they are sensitive to telepathic messages from other devils and obey their mental commands, doing the bidding of the strongest devil in the closest proximity. Lemures have the following special petitioner qualities:

Mindless (Ex): Lemures are immune to all mindinfluencing effects, and unless commanded, act as if feebleminded.

No planar Commitment (Ex): Unlike most other petitioners, lemures can leave their home plane.

The nupperibo, is said to inhabit Baator as a remnant of an ancient race that existed long before the Baatezu. Nupperibos grow naturally from larvae present on the plane if left to develop. Since the arrival of the Baatezu, the larvae have been molded by the devils into lemures in an effort to prevent large numbers of nupperibo developing.

-1 on all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma checks for all non-good, non-evil creatures
-2 on all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma checks for all good creatures
-1 on all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma checks for all non-lawful, non-chaotic creatures
-2 on all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma checks for all chaotic creatures
Good-based spells simply fail.
Evil-based (non-chaotic) spells work as if caster were 4 levels higher.
Law-based (non-good) spells work as if caster were 4 levels higher.
Chaos-based spells simply fail.

Conjurations and summonings require elaborate bindings, which must be perfectly performed, or the summoned creature need not obey, though it cannot leave. Summoned creatures are not under the control of the caster and may act freely until the spell ends. They typically start out indifferent to the caster unless they are opposed in alignment in which case they are unfriendly. Summoning and calling spells take one step longer to cast (refer to arcadia). The caster recieves -3 on opposed charisma checks against bound creatures.

Divinations are always presented as bad news. Additionally, the casting of a Divination spell has a 25% chance of alerting all devils within 1 mile of the spell being cast and the casters location.

Necromancy that heals requires a check vs. intelligence or it fails, while necromancy that does harm is performed as if the caster were one level higher. Healing spells are Impeded, while spells that manipulate negative energy are Empowered and gain a +1 bonus to caster level.

Evocation. Cold and water spells are Empowered, Widened, and Enlarged on Stygia while fire spells are impeded. The opposite is in effect on Avernus and Phlegethos (earth spells are also subject to these benefits on Avernus). Fire spells automatically fail on Caina while cold and air spells are Maximized, Widened and Enlarged.

Wild mages are reduced in level by one per layer, no surge is possible, and spells above fourth level simply fail. *

Elemental magic is stronger or weaker depending on the local climate. Spell keys might be useful, especially for those intending to heal or protect using the wizardly arts.

Wizardly spell keys: On the first layer, obsidian from the river of blood. On each successive layer, there are 3^(layer-1) keys, and below the third layer, they keep changing. Power keys are unholy symbols, or perhaps bits of a dead sinner's bone or spirit.

Movement in the Nine Hells is much like movement on the Material Plane. Even moving between layers is fairly straightforward. The connecting points between two layers are always found at the lowest point of the higher layer and at the highest point on the next layer down. If there is a mountain, hellish fortress spire, or other high structure along the ledge on the lower layer, then the traveler can climb down. Otherwise, simply stepping off the lowest, ledge-like projection on the upper layer sends a traveler plummeting into the lower layer. The distance fallen is subjective, but seems to be at least a half-mile. Creatures without some way to slow their fall take 20d6 points of damage when they impact the lower layer.

As with other outer planes, Baator is spatially infinite, consisting of nine infinite layers or sub-planes. Baator's first layer, Avernus, shares borders with the neighboring planes of Gehenna, the Outlands, and the battlefields of Acheron; travel is possible between Avernus and these planes at certain locations. Baator's portals are huge hoops of reddish light guarded by abishai and amnizu.

The layers of Baator are configured as a descending cone, with each layer successively lower than the one before it, as opposed to the Upper Planes of good alignment, where one goes higher to enter deeper into the plane.

The layers of Baator are nine, and each layer has its own ruler. All other rulers answer to the lowest, Asmodeus, in the Pit. Each of the nine layers has its own unique environment, but they're all inhospitable and possibly outright deadly. Travelers to the Nine Hells had best know how to get back out, lest they are waylaid by a devilish press gang bound for the Blood War. But even a small chance of survival in battle would be preferable to enslavement in the Nine Hells for eternity. The politics of the Nine Hells have rocked back and forth over the millennia, often accomplished by artful rhetoric or subtle poison, but sometimes accomplished by outright conflict involving armies of devils warring against each other. The city of Dis on the second layer has withstood siege more than once at the hands of aggressive devils. However, in all the time that Asmodeus has ruled from below, no revolt has ever succeeded in replacing the lord of the ninth layer with a different devil, despite a ploy designed by Asmodeus that once allowed his rivals to think he had been dethroned. Though the Nine Hells is governed by devils, some sages believe that the devils commandeered the Nine Hells from a far older, stranger race now simply called ancient baatorians. It's possible that remnants of this mysterious race still inhabit isolated portions of the Nine Hells

The Dark Eight are the generals of the Blood War; these eight pit fiends hold council every sixty-six days. The Dark Eight hold immense power, but they still answer to the Lords of the Nine, who each control a layer of the Nine Hells, and ultimately they answer to Asmodeus. The pit fiends that make up the Dark Eight are called Baalzephon, Corin, Dagos, Furcas, Pearza, Zapan, Zaebos, and Zimmimar. These eight rule the devils beneath them, meeting in the fortress of Malsheem in Nessus, the ninth layer. In addition to planning the next Blood War offensive, they also have a hand in determining which devils get promoted. On the rare occasions when they are not leading their armies, they reside in Nessus. When away on some hellish errand, they often appear in malefic human guise.
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The River Styx flows through the uppermost layer of the Baator, Avernus, just as it does all the lower planes. Offshoots and waterfalls of the Styx can be found on every layer of the Nine Hells. Portals to other planes are fairly common. Usually, such gates appear as free-standing hoops of reddish light. A well-known gate is in the town of Ribcage located in the Outlands. Travelers usually must have an invitation from a Lord of the Nine to pass the Cursed Gate, though Paracs the gatekeeper, a devil, can be bribed. Also, a landing of the Infinite Staircase provides access to the third layer of the Nine Hells, Minauros, somewhere within the suspended dry of Jangling Hiter.

The first layer is a vast charred wasteland of rubble over which the iron towers of the Dukes of Hell stand. Legions of devils march across the plains in continual readiness for the next battle of the Blood War. A red light suffuses the sky and huge fireballs fly across the layer, randomly exploding wherever they hit.

The second layer, Dis, is a burning city of iron known as the Iron City of Dis. The walls of the buildings of the city radiate extreme heat, as do the stones of the streets; more than brief skin contact results in severe burns. The Archduke Dispater rules this layer from the Iron Tower, an impregnable fortress that reaches far into the sky and can be seen everywhere on Dis.

The third layer of Minauros is an endless bog of vile pollution. The weather on Minauros consists of acidic rain and harsh winds.

The city of Minauros the Sinking is located here, so called because the weight of the city causes it to continually slip beneath the slimy waters; only the endless efforts of thousands of slaves prevents it from doing so. The kyton city of Jangling Hiter, City of Chains can also be found on this layer.

Mammon the Viscount is the ruler of Minauros, he resembles a long serpent with a human torso. He rules from the centre of the city, within a huge mausoleum like structure.

Phlegethos is a fiery wasteland filled with active volcanoes and rivers of molten lava. Lady Fierna and Archduke Belial are the lords of this layer. Few can exist here for long without suitable protection from the extreme heat. The city of Abriymoch is composed of hardened magma in the caldera of a volcano and is somewhat more bearable than the rest of Phlegethos. Fierna and Belial reside in a palace of pure obsidian high up on one side of the city.

Sheyruushk: This underwater realm is accessible from a crack between two icebergs not too far from Tantlin. The icy waters are dark, but that does not bother the sharklike sahuagin who live here. The sea devils cavort in the court of their deity, Sekolah. Awful rites pay homage to the brutal shark deity in which captive devils feature prominently as sacrifices. Sharks of every size and every type constantly roam the waters of Sheyruushk, though both the sharks and sahuagin often swim up into the River Styx. They love to sink River Styx boatmen and merchant craft; Sekolah's blessing is sufficient to render the raiders immune to the influence of the waters of Styx for a short time.

Tantlin, the City of Ice, is built on a huge ice floe with a large harbor to the river Styx, and is ruled over by a huge pit fiend. The lack of any kind of law enforcement leads itself to gangs controlling much of the city. Prince Levistus rules over this layer, frozen in a giant iceberg floating in the harbor.

Malbolge was an endless mountain where rockslides and avalanches of boulders were common. Numerous copper fortresses provided some refuge from the avalanches. Formerly, the Hag Countess ruled from her mountain-sized boulder fortress, which perpetually rolled down the slopes of Malbolge. Now however the layer is ruled by Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus. The Countess grew to such a height and girth that she exploded and became the layer itself.

Maladomini is a barren landscape scarred by countless forgotten ruins, abandoned mines and gruesome subterranean dungeons. Under the blood-black sky, petitioners quarry, carve, and build new cities for the Lord of the Seventh. Mine pits, slag heaps, and brackish canals cover the land like sores. Newer cities are built upon the backs of older ruins. As each city is finished, the Lord's dissatisfaction forces his subjects to begin anew. The abandoned cities are not empty. They serve as home for petitioners who've fled their devilish tormentors, beasts from other planes who've become especially lost, and lost planar travelers who don't want to be found.

The city of Malagard is the layer's primary settlement. Archduke Baalzebul presides over this layer. The city of Grenpoli is here.

Cania is an unimaginably cold wasteland, few living things can survive more than a few moments in an unsheltered area. Huge fast moving glaciers crash around the layer sending snow and ice up in the sky.

The layer is ruled over by Mephistopheles, from his great citadel of ice Mephistar. It sits upon a giant glacier called Nargus, the movement of which is controlled by Mephistopheles himself. Inside Mephistar huge heated baths and fire warm the citadel, providing quite a comfortable environment.

Nessus is the ninth and deepest layer of Baator. It is of pits and ravines of virtually endless depths. The great city of Malsheem lies immediately below the layer between Cania and Nessus and is the largest city in all of the Outer Planes. Here, Asmodeus rules over the entire plane, and thus the entire race of devils.